Postdoctoral Researcher - RF
Laurel, MD

Job Description

Introduction:

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), a national leader in scientific research and development, located midway between Baltimore and Washington, DC is seeking a postdoctoral researcher.

Job Summary:

Attacks on civilian and military soft targets (e.g. schools, bases, convoys) have demonstrated the need for improved detection of bad actors through advanced sensing and analytics. To address this problem, we are developing technologies to detect concealed person-borne threats such as firearms and explosives.

The postdoctoral researcher will develop and implement computational imaging techniques, signal processing theories and algorithms, and physics-based simulations to advance RF imaging capabilities. Publications and conference presentations of their findings are encouraged.

Duties (Listed in order of importance with the estimated amount of time spent at each task):

* Develop and implement theory and algorithms related to computational imaging and RF holography (60%)
* Plan, execute, and document laboratory and/or field tests of prototype and operational systems (30%)
* Develop system concepts for new projects (10%)

Note: This job summary and listing of duties is for the purpose of describing the position and its essential functions at time of hire and may change over time.

Required Qualifications:

* Ph.D. in Computer Science, Electrical and/or Computer Engineering, Physics, Mathematics or closely related field
* Extensive experience in one or more of the following areas: signal processing, holography, computational imaging, compressive sensing/sparse sampling, super-resolution techniques
* Proficiency in Matlab, Python, and/or C/C
* Excellent organizational and communication (written and spoken) skills

Desired Qualifications:

* Deep understanding of the physics of propagation, scattering, and measurement of electromagnetic fields (RF/microwave)
* Experience with software-defined radio (e.g. GNU Radio) and RF electronics
* Experience programming FPGAs and/or GPUs (CUDA / OpenCL)
* Knowledge and experience with supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms, including neural networks
* Experience in convolutional neural networks (TensorFlow, PyTorch, MXNet, etc.)
* Modeling and simulation of electromagnetic fields
* Wavelet analysis
* Synthetic aperture imaging
* Proficiency with Linux operating system

Special Working Conditions: Staff member may require occasional travel to CONUS sites for field testing (up to 15%)

Security: Secret Clearance is required. Applicant selected will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

Benefits: APL offers a comprehensive benefits package including a liberal vacation plan, a matching retirement program, significant educational assistance, a scholarship tuition program for staff with dependents, and competitive salaries commensurate with skills and experience. For more information about our organization, please visit our web site at www.jhuapl.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that complies with Title IX of the Education Amendments Acts of 1972, as well as other applicable laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.